The katha of the moneylender's wife
In a town lived a moneylender with his wife and seven sons. Before Diwali, the moneylender's wife went to the forest to fetch clay for plastering the house. While she was digging clay with a spade, it accidentally struck a syahu's (porcupine's) den and one of its cubs died.
The moneylender's wife was very sorry, but she quietly went home. Some time later, one by one, all seven of her sons fell ill and died. The grieving woman told the elderly women of the village everything — that she had accidentally killed the syahu's cub.
The women said, 'By telling the truth you have removed half the sin. Now keep the Ahoi Mata vrat on Kartik Krishna Ashtami, draw the syahu and her cubs on the wall, worship them and ask forgiveness for your mistake.'
The moneylender's wife kept this vrat every year with full faith. Pleased by her truly repentant devotion, Ahoi Mata blessed her once again with seven sons. Since then mothers keep this vrat for the protection of their children.
Puja vidhi (simple)
Bathe in the morning and take the sankalp of a nirjala or phalahari vrat for the long life of your children.
In the evening draw Ahoi Mata, the syahu and her seven cubs on the wall with geru (red ochre), or put up an Ahoi Mata calendar from the market. Place a kalash filled with water in front.
Offer roli, rice, and bhog of milk-rice or puri-halwa, listen to the katha and do the Ahoi Mata aarti. In many homes a silver syahu (Ahoi) garland is worn.
In the evening, when the stars appear, arghya is offered to the stars and the vrat is broken (in some families after seeing the moon).
This is OmKiran Bhakti's retelling of the traditional katha in simple English; details of the katha vary slightly from region to region.